President Barack Obama’s speech in Chicago after his re-election Tuesday night, as transcribed by Roll Call:
___
Thank you so much.
Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to
determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves
forward.
It moves forward because of you. It moves forward because you
reaffirmed the spirit that has triumphed over war and depression, the
spirit that has lifted this country from the depths of despair to the
great heights of hope, the belief that while each of us will pursue our
own individual dreams, we are an American family and we rise or fall
together as one nation and as one people.
Tonight, in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that
while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have
picked ourselves up, we have fought our way back, and we know in our
hearts that for the United States of America the best is yet to come.
I want to thank every American who participated in this election,
whether you voted for the very first time or waited in line for a very
long time. By the way, we have to fix that. Whether you pounded the
pavement or picked up the phone, whether you held an Obama sign or a
Romney sign, you made your voice heard and you made a difference.
I just spoke with Gov. Romney and I congratulated him and
Paul Ryan
on a hard-fought campaign. We may have battled fiercely, but it’s only
because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its
future. From George to Lenore to their son Mitt, the Romney family has
chosen to give back to America through public service and that is the
legacy that we honor and applaud tonight. In the weeks ahead, I also
look forward to sitting down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can
work together to move this country forward.
I want to thank my friend and partner of the last four years,
America’s happy warrior, the best vice president anybody could ever hope
for,
Joe Biden.
And I wouldn’t be the man I am today without the woman who agreed to
marry me 20 years ago. Let me say this publicly: Michelle, I have never
loved you more. I have never been prouder to watch the rest of America
fall in love with you, too, as our nation’s first lady. Sasha and Malia,
before our very eyes you’re growing up to become two strong, smart
beautiful young women, just like your mom. And I’m so proud of you guys.
But I will say that for now one dog’s probably enough.
To the best campaign team and volunteers in the history of politics.
The best. The best ever. Some of you were new this time around, and some
of you have been at my side since the very beginning. But all of you
are family. No matter what you do or where you go from here, you will
carry the memory of the history we made together and you will have the
lifelong appreciation of a grateful president. Thank you for believing
all the way, through every hill, through every valley. You lifted me up
the whole way and I will always be grateful for everything that you’ve
done and all the incredible work that you put in.
I know that political campaigns can sometimes seem small, even silly.
And that provides plenty of fodder for the cynics that tell us that
politics is nothing more than a contest of egos or the domain of special
interests. But if you ever get the chance to talk to folks who turned
out at our rallies and crowded along a rope line in a high school gym,
or saw folks working late in a campaign office in some tiny county far
away from home, you’ll discover something else.
You’ll hear the determination in the voice of a young field organizer
who’s working his way through college and wants to make sure every
child has that same opportunity. You’ll hear the pride in the voice of a
volunteer who’s going door to door because her brother was finally
hired when the local auto plant added another shift. You’ll hear the
deep patriotism in the voice of a military spouse who’s working the
phones late at night to make sure that no one who fights for this
country ever has to fight for a job or a roof over their head when they
come home.
That’s why we do this. That’s what politics can be. That’s why
elections matter. It’s not small, it’s big. It’s important. Democracy in
a nation of 300 million can be noisy and messy and complicated. We have
our own opinions. Each of us has deeply held beliefs. And when we go
through tough times, when we make big decisions as a country, it
necessarily stirs passions, stirs up controversy.
That won’t change after tonight, and it shouldn’t. These arguments we
have are a mark of our liberty. We can never forget that as we speak
people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a
chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their
ballots like we did today.
But despite all our differences, most of us share certain hopes for
America’s future. We want our kids to grow up in a country where they
have access to the best schools and the best teachers. A country that
lives up to its legacy as the global leader in technology and discovery
and innovation, with all the good jobs and new businesses that follow.
We want our children to live in an America that isn’t burdened by
debt, that isn’t weakened by inequality, that isn’t threatened by the
destructive power of a warming planet. We want to pass on a country
that’s safe and respected and admired around the world, a nation that is
defended by the strongest military on earth and the best troops this —
this world has ever known. But also a country that moves with confidence
beyond this time of war, to shape a peace that is built on the promise
of freedom and dignity for every human being.
We believe in a generous America, in a compassionate America, in a
tolerant America, open to the dreams of an immigrant’s daughter who
studies in our schools and pledges to our flag. To the young boy on the
south side of Chicago who sees a life beyond the nearest street corner.
To the furniture worker’s child in North Carolina who wants to become a
doctor or a scientist, an engineer or an entrepreneur, a diplomat or
even a president — that’s the future we hope for. That’s the vision we
share. That’s where we need to go — forward. That’s where we need to go.
Now, we will disagree, sometimes fiercely, about how to get there. As
it has for more than two centuries, progress will come in fits and
starts. It’s not always a straight line. It’s not always a smooth path.
By itself, the recognition that we have common hopes and dreams won’t
end all the gridlock or solve all our problems or substitute for the
painstaking work of building consensus and making the difficult
compromises needed to move this country forward. But that common bond is
where we must begin.
Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign
is now over. And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to
you, I have learned from you, and you’ve made me a better president. And
with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more
determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and
the future that lies ahead.
Tonight you voted for action, not politics as usual. You elected us
to focus on your jobs, not ours. And in the coming weeks and months, I
am looking forward to reaching out and working with leaders of both
parties to meet the challenges we can only solve together. Reducing our
deficit. Reforming our tax code. Fixing our immigration system. Freeing
ourselves from foreign oil. We’ve got more work to do.
But that doesn’t mean your work is done. The role of citizen in our
democracy does not end with your vote. America’s never been about what
can be done for us. It’s about what can be done by us together through
the hard and frustrating, but necessary work of self-government. That’s
the principle we were founded on.
This country has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what
makes us rich. We have the most powerful military in history, but that’s
not what makes us strong. Our university, our culture are all the envy
of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
What makes America exceptional are the bonds that hold together the
most diverse nation on earth. The belief that our destiny is shared;
that this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one
another and to future generations. The freedom which so many Americans
have fought for and died for come with responsibilities as well as
rights. And among those are love and charity and duty and patriotism.
That’s what makes America great.
I am hopeful tonight because I’ve seen the spirit at work in America.
I’ve seen it in the family business whose owners would rather cut their
own pay than lay off their neighbors, and in the workers who would
rather cut back their hours than see a friend lose a job. I’ve seen it
in the soldiers who reenlist after losing a limb and in those SEALs who
charged up the stairs into darkness and danger because they knew there
was a buddy behind them watching their back.
I’ve seen it on the shores of New Jersey and New York, where leaders
from every party and level of government have swept aside their
differences to help a community rebuild from the wreckage of a terrible
storm. And I saw just the other day, in Mentor, Ohio, where a father
told the story of his 8-year-old daughter, whose long battle with
leukemia nearly cost their family everything had it not been for health
care reform passing just a few months before the insurance company was
about to stop paying for her care.
I had an opportunity to not just talk to the father, but meet this
incredible daughter of his. And when he spoke to the crowd listening to
that father’s story, every parent in that room had tears in their eyes,
because we knew that little girl could be our own. And I know that every
American wants her future to be just as bright. That’s who we are.
That’s the country I’m so proud to lead as your president.
And tonight, despite all the hardship we’ve been through, despite all
the frustrations of Washington, I’ve never been more hopeful about our
future. I have never been more hopeful about America. And I ask you to
sustain that hope. I’m not talking about blind optimism, the kind of
hope that just ignores the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks
that stand in our path. I’m not talking about the wishful idealism that
allows us to just sit on the sidelines or shirk from a fight.
I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us
that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something
better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to
keep working, to keep fighting.
America, I believe we can build on the progress we’ve made and
continue to fight for new jobs and new opportunity and new security for
the middle class. I believe we can keep the promise of our founders, the
idea that if you’re willing to work hard, it doesn’t matter who you are
or where you come from or what you look like or where you love. It
doesn’t matter whether you’re black or white or Hispanic or Asian or
Native American or young or old or rich or poor, able, disabled, gay or
straight, you can make it here in America if you’re willing to try.
I believe we can seize this future together because we are not as
divided as our politics suggests. We’re not as cynical as the pundits
believe. We are greater than the sum of our individual ambitions, and we
remain more than a collection of red states and blue states. We are and
forever will be the United States of America.
And together with your help and God’s grace we will continue our
journey forward and remind the world just why it is that we live in the
greatest nation on Earth.
Thank you, America. God bless you. God bless these United States.
Transcript via Wall Street Journal permalink:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/11/07/transcript-obamas-victory-speech/
